 "Photo: Brad Honer")
As of today, an apparel company in College Station can no longer sell merchandise featuring the original "Saw 'Em Off" logo.
Aggieland Outfitters, named for the Texas A&M University Aggies, had until today to sell all its merchandise featuring the original Longhorn design with sawed-off horns, according to a lawsuit settlement reached between the UT System Board of Regents and the owners of the store. The regents sued the Outfitters' owners last year because the "Saw 'Em Off" design infringed on the Longhorn trademark.
Outfitters now sells "Saw 'Em Off" merchandise featuring the Longhorn logo sporting a hair patch between the eyes and nostrils.
"We wish we never had to make the change, but nothing is ever 100-percent fair in this world," said Fadi Kalaouze, who co-owns Aggieland Outfitters with his wife. "We think the whole thing is silly."
Outfitters is currently selling car decals and a few different T-shirts, but Kalaouze said he will produce more "Saw 'Em Off" merchandise in the coming months.
The regents filed the lawsuit against Kalaouze on Dec. 4, 2006, 10 days after the Aggie football team beat the Longhorns in Austin, 12-7. The case, which racked up more than $200,000 in legal fees for Kalaouze, was settled at the end of June for $25,000 and allotted Aggieland Outfitters 90 days to sell out its stock.
"The mark was confusingly similar to ours, diluting our famous trademark," said Craig Westemeier, vice president for legal affairs at UT.
Kalaouze owns three stores in College Station which are the only ones that can sell "Saw 'Em Off" merchandise. He said he bought the copyrights to the design created by two A&M students almost 11 years ago.
Westemeier said there were no legal issues with the new design, but if another party knocked off the new design, UT could take an issue with it, depending on its use and the consumer impression it conveys.
Kalaouze still owns the copyright to the original design and is in the process of trademarking the new design. Even though the new logo is different, Kalaouze said it has been well-received.
"We did a good job of saving it," he said. "We saved it for the Aggies."
Kalaouze said the lawsuit has affected his family and company.
"We're just a mom-and-pop store, and here comes UT to sue us," he said. "Thank God the whole thing is over."
A&M Student Body President Conner Prochaska said the student body is indifferent to the logo's changes.
"The spirit of 'Saw 'Em Off' is still the same," he said. "It's still part of our war hymn, and Aggies will buy the merchandise as long as someone sells it."
Prochaska said he thinks the original "Saw 'Em Off" merchandise will become a collector's item.
UT Student Government President Andrew Solomon said he is glad the Longhorn symbol is so coveted and that the lawsuit is over.
"It's funny other campuses have so much of a fascination with UT that they would rather distort our emblem than support theirs," Solomon said. "You don't see UT students walking around campus wearing a shirt with their dog on it."
Michael Maddox, urban studies senior and vice president of the Silver Spurs, an organization that acts as the caretaker and transporter of BEVO, said it is important to the organization that the Longhorn is accurately represented.
"The Longhorn means a whole lot to us, and it embodies UT across the nation and around the world," Maddox said. "When people see a burnt-orange Longhorn, they associate it with UT, not A&M."
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